Catching up???

I don't think I will ever get my calm, peaceful life back. Things have slowed down considerably now that swimming and soccer are done, and I for one, like it. The kids do not...they like going places, and it adds variety to our days.

I have pictures of Aaron's and David's birthdays I need to figure out and make posts, and then there are several things I'm hoping to blog about.

We'll see...no promises...

Did I really ask?

Did I really ask about what would be next? He has been into bookshelves, eggs (yes, cracking and playing with several,) and now got into the gentian violet. I don't know if I can take this anymore. I'll have to decide if I should post a purple picture or not...

We had a soccer practice tonight and will have a game on Thursday. The kids (I had six extras for a couple miles) were hyper so I sent them all to run with the seniors as they were finishing up their practice later than we finish.

Tomorrow Tracy has a dentist appointment so we have to leave at 7:00 am. Some of us don't even know what things look like at that hour so it should be an interesting trip. I suppose I should figure out some lunch for Mike to feed the kids. Emily thinks she wants to go to McDonald's so will probably go with us for the trip.

I think that's it for now. Some of our friends had a baby who is now 12 days old so I am working on some meal ideas for them.

Empty Cupboards

Well, I came home last night to find David had been playing with my pots.



This afternoon I came home to find he had emptied my pans cupboard.


Now he is busy playing with water and a squeezer with glasses on the kitchen floor.



What will be next???

Time Flies

Things have been busy, but I didn't realize it's been over a month since I last posted. One of these days I'll have to give a run-down of what has been happening, but at the moment we are getting ready to head to town. :)

Attention-Getter

My husband has decided that he has not been getting enough attention so on top of his emergency room trip the other night, he sliced his wrist and had to get stitches Monday at work. I would think there are other ways to get attention...by doing it this way, he has become a pin cushion. Poor guy!

This and That

Things have been going well.

It has been so hot that I have just been sitting around, not doing a lot other than drinking.

We try to hit the pool several times each week.

The air conditioners have been a blessing.

Mike decided he wanted some special attention so we spent several hours in the emergency room with kidney stones. (I guess that is one way to get some time alone in the car with your wife.) :)

This week is a calm week, so far, on our calendar. I'm sure it will fill quickly though; it usually does. I had thrown around the thought of going to visit the grandparents during this week (a couple weeks ago,) but I think I will stay at home in front of my air conditioners.

Jason's 13th Birthday

Jason celebrated his 13th birthday last week.

Here he is in the pool during his WOW swimming, and then we shared doughnuts with all the kids that were there that day. I had made blueberry muffins to bring, but we left them at home on the table.



He invited a couple friends over for a few hours.



We had pizzas, fruit, and Dairy Queen cake.





He spent a lot of time playing various "electronic" games that day and even practiced his piano lesson songs.


He got a couple gifts plus a card in the mail earlier in the week.



We still have a raincheck out on his cornbread and hamburger gravy for supper. It has been too hot to eat a meal like that.

Sacked out...

July 4th Cookie

Jason took time and decorated a flag cookie for me. :)

Iron Man

I went "all-out" this year and bought wrist bands for Jason, Emily, Melissa, and Laura to go on the jumping rides at the 4th of July celebration. They had a blast except at the end when they lost two hours because of the coming rain.

David and Laura and I were down there as they were inflating the rides. I was sitting by the one called Iron Man. As it inflated I told David, "Look, it's going up up up." He looked up and said, "Up." Then he kept looking at it saying "up" as his face got more and more horrified. He started backing up saying, "Up up bigger Mommy bigger." I was having hysterics at his expense!!!!! I so wish I would have had a video camera on me to catch the expression on his face as he backed away getting more and more scared saying "bigger Mommy bigger."

Poor little guy...I hope he doesn't have nightmares of huge men coming to get him! :)

"Smiley-Guy"

Refreshing

Wednesday while Aaron was at his guitar lesson, Jason and I walked down the the river. I lay down on the bridge and just let the gentle breeze blow over me. It wasn't too hot in the day yet...

Sleeping Boy

David put himself to sleep Monday evening.

Hide-n-Seek

Hiding in the bookshelf...

Steam-Roller Art

The girls went to the library and did the steam-roller art again this year. Cutting out all the pieces was still a huge challenge, though Emily was able to do it herself this year, so Tracy and Jason got the joy of helping them cut pieces.

Proud to be an American

Our local hardware store does projects with the children a few times each year. This past week they made these American flags. I thought they were so cute! (and I didn't have to deal with the mess)

Breakfast for Supper

Our grocery store has eight week's worth of advertising coupons running right now. I took advantage of them and one day last week we had some breakfast for supper. If I remember correctly, the eggs and the pancake mix were $.59 each and the potatoes and sausages were $.79 each. The strawberries were a yummy addition!!!!!

Mike's Birthday

We needed more candles than I could fit on Mike's blueberry cheesecake for his birthday so I just put a few on it. He's still full of hot air. :)




His parents came up Saturday to visit and also took us out to eat. They left for home Sunday after church.

The Joke is on Me

I went to look for some pictures on the camera to enlarge for my wall and found these:
















I don't think I will be using any of them! :)

Visitors

Mike's parents are up visiting for his birthday. They stopped by and left some stuff and visited. We had blueberry cheesecake with lots of candles. Poor David...when Mike blew out the candles, he started to cry. He wanted to blow them out so I had to re-light one for him when he got his piece, which made him happy.


After all of that, we headed to town. We met Mike's parents and they took us out to eat. We went to the pool for a while after that. Later on this morning, we will have church, a lunch, and then they will head home while I take Tracy and Emily to a picnic in Roseau for their Bible Bee group. I am hoping to squeeze a nap in before youth group tonight! :)

This and That

Emily and Melissa had a fun and busy week of vacation Bible school. They even took Laura one day. She had fun during the VBS, but on the way home and for the rest of the evening she was more full of cries and clings than "normal" so I didn't take her again. Maybe next year...

We bought a shed and Mike, Aaron, Tracy, and Jason are having "fun" putting that up. I got a bike, and once we got the seat raised as far as it will go, I finally have enough leg room to ride. I'll have to do some practicing now.

We didn't get it done yesterday or Thursday, but we have been having biology, physics, geography, and Spanish videos playing at various times throughout the day for the past month.

Tracy and Emily got their Bible Bee boxes, and Tracy has been working hard on that.

We went to Bemidji for church last Sunday where some missionaries were speaking and got the box of stuff we had for them to them. Their kids are 1 1/2 years older than when I originally tried to get it to them so I had to do some swapping of things.

Some of the kids have been practicing swimming skills, but we haven't gotten to the t-ball skills yet--too many mosquitoes!!!

Mike's parents will be here today to help celebrate his birthday, which he had yesterday. He spent his day out in the mosquitoes putting up the shed.

Smiley Guy

Melissa's 7th Birthday

We woke Melissa so she could get ready to go to Bemidji to Grandma's house for two nights and to Putt-n-Go for a fun afternoon.

A birthday lunch of chicken and rice hotdish and kiwi...




A funfetti cake with seven candles



Much-desired Zoobles

A frog nightgown

In the car and on the way after lunch

Another cake--one that we could share without it melting

An egg found leftover from the Easter hunt

Sacked out